Seven Lives Crossing
by UnnecessaryCommas
Summary: When the seven kids living in the shadows of the famous Avengers finally cross paths, they form a team which is as close as family. Superheroes don't require permissions slips, but it would be nice to know that their heroes understand. KFxRob and KonxMeg.
1. Knightwing

**A/N:** _This story sets up how Young Justice would form a team if they were part of the Marvel Universe, particularly Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The story ends when every member of the team has joined. Each (not) sidekick gets a chapter and then in the end there will be an epilogue. I might add chapters of each Avenger making peace with the team. Tell me what you think.  
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* * *

><p><em>Chapter One: Dick Grayson, Ward of Tony Stark<em>

Tony is a little tipsy. He spills the entire tub of popcorn down the laps of the two blondes beside him. It's not that bad. His eyes focus. Oh, there's only one blonde. Okay, so it's pretty bad. It's okay. He'll call Pepper or Happy and have something sent to his date, whatever her name is, to make up for this.

Then something sobering happens. The lights flicker and the aerialists preform their stunts without a safety-net. And then they fall. There's a little boy crying. He's their son. He was meant to do his death-defying stunt next, before his parents meet their deaths. He...he must be eight.

Tony doesn't know what's hit him, this sudden maturity, but he glides down from his front row seat and gives the little boy a hug. He doesn't let go even when the cops send everyone in the audience away. He owns the circus's land anyways. He can stay to hear what went wrong.

The little boy says his name is Dick. He says he wants Mr. Stark to stay so he does. He calls Pepper and has her makes some arrangements.

"Pepper, he's just a little kid. He can't handle all these people making a spectacle out of him. Until this custody thing gets taken care of, Dick has to stay with us," Tony explains.

"Tony! You can feel sorry for the kid, but how long will that motivate you? The responsibility-"

"Who cares!" Tony cuts her off. "He's lost and he needs a friend," Tony says.

"Tony," her voice fails to hold back her frustration, "did you know adopting puppies while drunk is illegal in the city?"

"Who said anything about me being drunk? I'm perfectly sober. Problem solved! Besides Dick isn't a puppy; he's a little boy."

"That's precisely why this situation is even worse, Tony. And you are drunk," Pepper tells him.

She shuts off her cell as soon as she arrives. Exiting the vehicle, she approaches Tony and the boy who is clinging to his arms.

Pepper doesn't want to give in to Tony's momentary insanity, but as soon as she sees and hears the whimpering little boy with no one but a random stranger to hold on to her heart melts. Maybe she's momentarily insane too.

Pepper remembers that day long ago when she was still a schoolgirl with freckles and pigtails. She found a baby robin orphaned thanks to a stray tomcat. Pepper remembers the tantrum her mother endured after refusing to let her daughter care for the little lost bird.

"He's already so broken, Pepper. There's nothing you can do for him," her mother had said.

Pepper remembers most of all how the bird died shortly without her help.

She calls a social service agent at the Maria Stark Foundation and tells him to shove his complaints about the time of day. She's found her Robin.

"Would you like to go home with us and get some rest?" she asks the little boy as she crouches down to meet his one eye which isn't pressed against Tony's chest.

Dick grips Tony tighter and looks up to him. Tony wipes the little boy's tear-stained eyes.

"I'll be there," Tony promises.

Tony isn't there for the kid for very long; he passes out in the car. Pepper wasn't lying before when she told him he's drunk.

Pepper ends up bear hugging Dick on the ride home since Mr. Stark certainly isn't awake enough to comfort him.

"Things will get better," she coos as she rubs his back.

"Are...are you sure he's just sleeping?"

"He's fine, Richard. Why don't you sit up here in the front seat with me?" Dick doesn't meet her eyes.

"I can't see Mr. Tony up there," he whispers. Pepper cocks her head. "I need to make sure he's breathing," Dick admits his fear.

Pepper just stares at the boy before pulling him into a sloppy hug.

After Pepper makes the arrangements with the sleepy Maria Stark Foundation social worker, she and Dick make themselves comfortable. They rest using Tony as their pillow so that the rise and fall of his chest can lull them to sleep.

* * *

><p>Dick stays with them a week, then two, and then Pepper has Tony fill out adoption papers once it's clear no one else is taking the kid in. The papers give Pepper majority custody. Tony just nods and signs where Pepper has placed a helpful, neon-colored sticky tab.<p>

The police report comes out then, it blames Stark Industries for not informing the circus of past eco-terrorist threats surrounding the land. Tony doesn't like this new feeling when he sees Dick, or Robin as Pepper affectionately nicknames the kid.

The feeling is guilt. Tony stops looking at the kid and takes another tumbler. He forgets the feeling.

* * *

><p>The boy is nine the first time Tony hears him call Pepper 'mom'. It startles Tony and he looks at her expecting the boy to be promptly corrected. She catches his gaze and glares back daggers. Somehow, Tony knows not to interfere and never brings it up again. Tony wonders briefly why he never tried to be 'dad'.<p>

He figures it's too late. His own Dad screwed him up so bad anyways; there's no reason to try parenting this kid. He'd just mess him up.

When Dick turns ten, he is kidnapped. Pepper panics and Tony doesn't know what he's expected to do.

He works with the cops, and ends up paying the ransom with marked bills. Dick is safe, but the police don't capture the kidnappers. Tony feels helpless. He sees Pepper's wild eyes. He sends Dick to a private martial arts school where he's taught to fight back.

During a school break, Dick returns home for his belated eleventh birthday. He comes home to find Mr. Tony's MIA in the Middle East. Pepper is frantic. Dick wonders if this was how she was last year when he was kidnapped. He wonders why Mr. Tony didn't send _himself_ to a private dojo. He snickers through his hidden pain.

When Tony comes back, he closes down the weapons manufacturing at his company. He stops dating random chicks. He focuses on some sort of new tech project. Pepper seems worried as if at any minute Tony's heart could just give out.

Dick returns to school. He doesn't need to be an extra worry for Mom and Mr. Tony doesn't seem to even notice when he's there.

* * *

><p>Dick learns about Tony being Iron Man the same way everyone else does: TV. His friends don't know his connections to Tony Stark so no one bothers him about it, except the dean of the school who <em>does<em> know how his tuition gets paid each quarter.

Dick is sent home to Pepper. Pepper uncovers a more technical education based private school in California that will accept him. Dick finds time to continue his gymnastics and martial arts training outside of school. It's not like he has a real home to go back to in his spare time or anything.

* * *

><p>Dick is twelve when he meets Wally. The raven-haired boy was allowed to come home to spend a month with Pepper for Christmas. At Stark's party, Wally comes with his Aunt Jan, one of Tony's friends.<p>

Wally is a few years older but is much more fun to be around than Tony's business partners. Wally says he moved in with his aunt a few months ago. Dick wants to ask why but Wally looks tired of that question so instead he asks him about school.

Jan ends up sending Wally to Dick's private school in California. Dick rearranges his schedule with some hacking. The years that separate Dick and Wally won't unfairly separate the boys in every class period.

* * *

><p>Dick is thirteen when Tony has his first big father-like conversation with him. It's about Wally. The newspapers suddenly remembered Dick Grayson, heir of Stark Industries, existed sometime after Wally and Dick started dating. Tony, at some red carpet event, was asked about the photo in some rag of Dick and Wally from one of Jan's fashion shows.<p>

Tony didn't know about them and didn't know what to say. The press puts words into his gaping mouth.

Pepper wanted to make this conversation a bird and bees talk but somehow Tony makes it sound more about how Dick shouldn't embarrass Tony in front of the press.

"You should have told me, Robin; I can't be left unaware of what's going on in my own house."

"Richard! You don't get to call me that or Dick or _anything_ remotely like you know me as more than a casual acquaintance," Dick yells as he balls his fists.

"Dic-"

"Mr. Tony, you never tell me what's going on in your life so why should I have to tell you what's going on in mine?"

Tony wants to say Dick has to because he is his son. He can't say that. It isn't true in any sense of the word.

"I do tell you things," he says weakly.

"Like what?" Dick mocks. "How about the Avengers, Tony? My "dad" starts a superhero team and I don't even get a memo!" Tears stream down his cheeks and he backs away slowly. "You're a lousy role-model and a terrible hero! Good thing I never looked up to you or anything," Dick spits as he storms out.

Tony tries to remember if Dick has ever refereed to him as his father before. Dick hasn't. Tony wonders where he went wrong. He thinks about all the changes he made in his life when he became Iron Man and wonders why one of them wasn't becoming a good father.

Stark Industries donates to It Gets Better. Dick doesn't seem to notice.

* * *

><p>Pepper doesn't say anything when Dick and Wally start playing with Stark tech in Wally's lab.<p>

Hank is impressed when they rig a phaser-beam to a boomerang and offers his help. Jan never asks why they call the laser-powered boomerangs birdarangs.

Thor pretends he never saw Dick hack the security cameras for Stark's lab. Tony doesn't notice when a set of proto Iron Man gloves and boots go missing. Tony doesn't question when JARVIS suggests Tony give Dick an old Iron Man helmet to keep him out of his hair since he and his boyfriend love that sort of thing so much.

JARVIS, Pepper, Jan, Hank and Thor know the helmet really is for keeping Dick in one piece.

Hawkeye asks Tony what he thinks about the hero using his tech. Tony has never heard of this Knightwing. When Tony asks, Pepper says she doesn't know why JARVIS's protocols are corrupted when it comes to sightings of the hero Knightwing. Tony fixes the protocols and gets himself a scotch.

* * *

><p><em>Next Chapter: Wally van Dyne, Nephew of Wasp.<em>


	2. Yellowjacket

_Chapter Two: Wally van Dyne, Nephew of Wasp_

Janet van Dyne knows her teenage nephew Wally loves science even more than video games or food or the things his raging hormones tell him to do. Because Jan knows Wally's top priority in life, she takes him to see Hank's lab every other weekend. In fact, the older Wally gets, the more often he comes out of the suburbs and into the city. He crashes at her place so that he can see all the cool labs or tour the Baxter building or Stark Industries or whatever futurist thing he wants.

Jan doesn't mind since she's always wanted to be the cool aunt. Besides, Mary, her sister-in-law, seems to think Wally's ADHD is helped by the fresh and exciting environments NYC has to offer. Mary even starts talking about Wally staying with Jan for the summer and interning for one of Hank's colleagues in the sciences.

Wally loves the idea; in fact, the idea ranks somewhere between junk food and superheroes on the Wally's passion meter. Jan gives in to Wally's pleas by the time he repeats 'pretty please' no less than one-hundred and fifty times. She says yes because she has her cool aunt status to maintain.

Wally interns for Stark Industries in the biologic research division focusing on mutations. He shows so much promise that Tony even gives in to Jan's pressing and meets with the kid. Wally's face beams with pride the day they meet.

"I got to meet a superhero! I'm never going to wash this hand," he tells his aunt.

Jan laughs fully.

"You're never so enthusiastic about Hank and I. We _are_ superheroes too," she reminds him.

"That doesn't count; you and Hank are family." Wally waves off her complaint.

"Family? How is Hank your family, kid?"

"Well...maybe you guys aren't there yet?"

Jan shakes her head.

"You'll probably me my age before_ that_ happens," she mutters.

"Well...I'm still calling him Uncle Hank no matter what," Wally proclaims.

Jan ruffles his flame red hair.

"Go for it, Kid."

* * *

><p>Wally goes home after the summer ends. His aunt is the first person he calls when he starts the 'Ant-Man and Wasp Appreciation Society' at school.<p>

"I would have given you top billing but the acronym A.M.A.W.A.S. is better than W.A.A.M.A.S."

"Both of those acronyms suck equally, Wally." Jan snorts at the ridiculousness. "Stop fooling yourself, kid."

"Yeah, yeah. You're a riot Aunt Janet," Wally replies. "You're a really cool aunt, you know that?"

Jan sniffles a little although she might never admit it later.

"Well, you too," she whispers hurriedly. Wally laughs at her wording. "I meant you're a cool nephew," she corrects.

* * *

><p>Wally starts calling less and less. Janet is busy with the new team and doesn't notice at first. She gets a literal and metaphorical wake up call from his mother.<p>

"Jan, it's about Wally," Mary starts the conversation meekly.

"Wally? I may have heard of a Wally...did he sit behind me in Bio freshman year?"

"Wally is being bullied...at school," Wally's worried mother blurts out without responding to her sister-in-law's joke.

"What?"

"I...I need him to be _safe_. Making him stay here and deal with...bullies. This life isn't fair to him. Something has got to change."

"What can I do to help?"

"I know it's too much to ask, but it's what would be best for Wally."

"Go for it, Mary."

"Can he stay with you for the rest of the year, from Thanksgiving break to New Years?" Mary says in a rush.

Jan pauses as she formulates an opinion.

"I don't know. How can I look out for him when I'm dealing with the super-villain type of bully on a daily basis?"

"Being around heroes will only make him feel safer," Mary claims. "Seeing the streets clean up is good for him after everything that's happened." Mary sniffs. "Please Jan."

Janet knows her sister-in-law well. She know that Mary would never ask such a large favor without it being vitally important. She also know that it's from Mary that Wally gets his excellent sense of grovelling.

"Okay, well, I'm moving into the Avengers Mansion. Tony doesn't like the idea of kids hanging around...but I can work my magic."

She offers to let her nephew stay for the November break when it comes and see how it goes.

* * *

><p>Before the holiday break comes, Janet Van Dyne finds herself reading a police report. She's read it five times and yet she still can't process it.<p>

Her big brother Ruddy would never do these things. He couldn't hurt a fly. In fact, there's only two things Jan's ever seen set Ruddy off: bullies and mutants. He tends to think of them as one and the same.

Jan looks at her nephew through the curtain around his hospital bed. He doesn't _look_ hurt, and yet if Mary's statement to the police was true then Wally would be in really bad shape. Jan asks herself to choose from two impossibilities. Either Ruddy is more violent than she's ever imagined...or Mary has suddenly learned how to lie.

Janet doesn't like what she chooses as the truth...and what that probably means about Wally. She grabs his hand and squeezes it tight.

"You're a really cool nephew, kid."

* * *

><p>The police let Wally come home with his aunt until they can figure out if Ruddy and Mary have a safe living environment or not.<p>

Jan convinces Hank and Tony to let Wally hang around their labs. Science is the only thing that seems to cheer him up.

The police say there's no proof Wally was hurt like Mary claimed and Jan isn't willing to explain why that is to the less than tolerant police force.

Ruddy wanted every thing to return to normal after that day Wally ended up in the hospital. He was entirely willing to pretend like Mary's report never happened. His actions scream of guilt. Jan knows that Ruddy was sure his marks would never last long on Wally's precious skin.

Now, Ruddy and Mary are getting a divorce. Wally's custody is in the air. Neither parent objects too strongly to letting the boy stay with his aunt. Wally doesn't seem to mind either. She is a cool aunt after all.

* * *

><p>Wally has some sort of crazy idea. She can see it in his eyes every time he closes his <em>Top Secret<em> experiment notebook. She's worried. The last experiment he ran ended up destroying half of one of Tony's labs at the Avengers Mansion. She had to argue with Tony to let Wally stay around.

Jan doesn't want Wally to get depressed though, so she lets him day dream. He wouldn't do anything too dangerous. She trusts him to use good judgment. He's too smart not to, isn't he?

* * *

><p>Tony invites Jan and Hank to his Christmas party separately. They each are allowed a plus one. Jan takes Wally while Hank acts oblivious and comes alone, clinging close to Janet and her nephew the whole party.<p>

Jan spies a teenager and points him out to Wally.

"Just because he's close to my age doesn't mean we'll hit it off," Wally scoffs as he drowns an apple cider.

"Wally, come on. The kid looks depressed," Uncle Hank points out.

"I would rather spend time chatting up the Stark scientists and technicians who've come to mingle," Wally whines.

Jan remembers who the kid is then.

"I thought he looked familiar! That's Richard. Tony is basically the kid's dad."

"Really?" Wally has a tough time imagining Mr. Stark as a father. He snorts at the picture of a stork bombarding Iron Man with bundles of joy. Jan grabs him by the ear when she realizes he's dazed off.

"It's impolite not to greet him when he's technically one of the hosts by extension," she says in a warning tone.

"Fine, Aunt Jan. I'll say hello or something."

Wally ends up hanging out with Dick the whole night. Dick follows Wally back to the Avengers Mansion. Hank finds the two of them dying the pool purple at five in the morning. Tony isn't impressed. Hawkeye, after he looks over the shade of purple, takes it as a compliment

Tony claims that he knew something like this would happen if kids were left roaming the Avengers Mansion.

"I've seen far less mature individuals walking these hallowed halls," Pepper snarks at Tony. Tony shuts up.

* * *

><p>Mary and Ruddy officially transfer custody to Jan. Jan takes up the kids' idea of sending Wally to Dick's school.<p>

Dick and Wally video conference Jan and Hank about every day. She knows the very hour when they start dating. She tries asking Tony about his opinion on their relationship once but he doesn't seem to understand what she's talking about. She hates it when people don't understand what she's talking about; she gets enough of that from Hank. Annoyed, Jan moves on to different conversations.

When she turns on TMZ and sees a picture of her nephew and Dick being called a scandalous teen couple, she calls Tony. He doesn't answer. She finds out later that at this very moment her teammate was at a black tie event being made aware of the boys' relationship for the first time by a nosy reporter.

* * *

><p>Jan and Hank offer Wally a hug when they see him next. Wally crashes at the Avengers Mansion again. Dick shows up and Jan lets them fall asleep on the sofa. Tony is being buzzed at by someone on the phone.<p>

"Who is it?" Jan whispers. Tony, loudly, respond.

"Pepper."

Dick wakes up then and crawls out from under Wally's legs. He steals the cell from Tony.

"Mom?" he says into the receiver. It is the last thing Tony hears him say as he leaves the room.

"Pepper wants me to talk with Dick about the Wally thing," Tony offers lamely.

"Hank and I are planning on talking to Wally about what happened too," Jan says. Somehow, she thinks their conversations are going to be entirely different.

Jan and Hank offer Dick a hug when they see him next.

* * *

><p>Dick and Wally want to return to their school early. Jan and Pepper refuse.<p>

Wally and Dick spend most of the winter break playing in the lab Wally has made the most dents on.

On Christmas, the boys greet the holy morning with a new explosion. Wally spends the next 24 hours hooked up to Hank's monitoring system. Dr. Donald Blake assists. Dick holds Wally's hand and calls him an idiot.

The boys won't tell anyone what the experiment was meant to do. The charred remains of Wally's _Top Secret_ notebook don't help much either.

When Wally wakes up he eats all the food in the Avengers Mansion. Pepper and Jan send Tony out to get more.

In private, Wally shows Hank, Jan, Pepper and Dr. Blake what the experiment did...by running to Mexico for some real burritos.

Hank wants to run scans when Wally returns. Wally refuses. He scoops Dick up and they run off.

The Avengers _try_ to search the city for them but are sidetracked when Magneto attacks.

Luckily, the team's help isn't necessary since Pepper soon finds the boys at a movie theater watching _Santa Claus Conquerors the Martians_.

She gives them both a hug.

* * *

><p><em>Next Chapter: Roy Harper, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. <em>


	3. Tigereye

_Chapter Three: _

_Roy Harper, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D._

* * *

><p>Hawkeye meets the cocky redheaded boy in Vietnam. It isn't until the mission is nearly complete, the illegal weapons dealing exposed, that he learns the kid works as a S.H.I.E.L.D. undercover agent.<p>

"I don't know what to think about children being S.H.I.E.L.D. agents," Hawkeye mentions to the boy as they trail the last of the fleeing dealers through their hidden compound.

"I don't need you to protect me," Agent Harper says through ground teeth. "I know what I am doing."

Clint smirks and draws his bow. He quickly pulls the string taunt and releases an arrow. Agent Harper swings around in time to watch as the henchman drops to the floor with a taser arrow shocking him, a perfect bullseye directly over his heart.

The teenager squints his eyes dangerously. "That," he motions to the downed man, "doesn't change anything."

Hawkeye smiles. "Well, it did keep you alive, but what is that in the grand scheme of things?"

Agent Harper looks the older man hard in the eyes. "It means that I fight another day and that's all that matters."

Clint catches the dangerous glint in the boy's expression. There is a blunt ferocity, a willing determination and, most disturbingly, a wild desperation. This Agent Harper, this _kid_, would martyr himself for a mission in the blink of an eye. His short life would be wasted on making Nick Fury appear at his funeral momentarily to pass out the medal before he quickly forgets that the kid even existed.

Clint sighs deeply. "It's not polite to stare, kid."

"Don't call me a kid, old man."

Clint's stomach relaxes as the kid's deathwish shifts into disapproval. If it means the kid will learn to prioritize his life differently, Clint can work with this. He's okay with playing the bad guy in order to loosen Agent Harper up.

"Sure thing, kid," Hawkeye drags the henchman over to the hand scanner on the locked door, "but then I'm going to have to come up with a new name for you."

Roy scowls. "I'm not a lost puppy."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Roy declares resolutely as he makes his way into the compound without waiting for Hawkeye to follow.

"Well that rules out Fido..." Clint sends a barrage of arrows at a rolling robot drone. It dodges easily so Roy jumps onto its back and rides it like a bull.

As Clint steps over the dismembered pieces of the robot, he whistles. "I'm impressed, kid." He hooks up to the main hub and types furiously while Roy watches his back.

"I said don't call me-'

"Bullseye," Clint interrupts.

"What?"

Hawkeye doesn't look up from typing as he responds.

"Everyone always asks me why I'm an archer called Hawkeye instead of Bullseye."

"Well?" The redhead grows impatient quickly. "Are you going to tell me why?"

"The name Hawkeye has nothing to do with archery. It's hawkeye like the quartz stone."

"And why would you name yourself after a rock?" Roy asks dubiously.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, Tigereye."

"What? Don't call me-"

"Tigereye, duck!" Clint shouts as a heavy hanger door is ripped off its hinges and flung towards them.

The computer bay ignites into sparks and Clint curses as he removes his steaming jumpdrive.

They fight back to back as the approaching drones attempt to over power them. As Tigereye downs another robot, he turns to his partner and smirks, the argument forgotten.

They escape the base in a blaze of flame and smoke.

* * *

><p>Fury isn't pleased when Hawkeye barges into his private office with a scowl on his face.<p>

"And who do I owe for the pleasure of this visit?" Fury asks as he folds his hands behind his back.

"I'm here for the kid," Agent Barton replies.

Fury's interest is piqued by the poorly masked indignation in Hawkeye's voice.

"What kid?"

Hawkeye loses all pretense of control at this response. "_The _kid, Fury!" He tosses down a dossier on Roy Harper and breathes heavily while Director Fury thumbs it over.

"Agent Harper? He is almost seventeen now. He's trained better than some life long masters," Fury points a leaf of paper within the file, "as you can read here. Also, he's never complained to me yet. He wants to be a part of S.H.E.I.L.D. and he has the skills to back it up. If you want him out, you should have said something back when the kid was fourteen and still a novice. I might have agreed with you then."

"Is that what you've been telling him all these years? I can see why he thinks he's ready with you building him up that way." Hawkeye pulls off his mask and looks Fury in the eyes clear of all pretenses. "He doesn't understand the dangers. He's good, he's damn good, but I can't let you keep this up."

Fury drops the entwined hands behind his back. He places a twitching finger atop the edge of his desk and leans into it. "Who works here isn't your call," Fury reminds him icily.

"The first thing, Fury, the very first thing I learned about Roy is to never call the kid a kid." Clint takes a quick step forward towards the desk. Fury stays unflinching. "Do you know why that is?"

"Because he's seventeen and not a kid anymore, Agent Barton."

"No," Clint takes another step forward, "because he's been told by people like you that he must waste his childhood on growing up too soon. He's been convinced that unless he fights he worthless."

Fury waits until Agent Barton wisely takes a step backwards. "Hawkeye, I might be able to understand where you are coming from, but it's too late. He's been on the job for too long now. His work is his whole life. You can't take that away from him."

Director Fury sweeps the collection of papers back into its folder. He offers the dossier back to Hawkeye.

"No," Clint says, "you can't just give up on him. Certainly not when you're the ones that have used him like this."

"Used him?" Fury raises the brow above his good eye. "Explain."

Clint grabs the dossier back from Fury and throws it open to a page. Fury looks down to Roy's psych evaluation from three years ago.

"Can you read what this says? 'Requires major guidance due to inability to handle his personal loss.' What does that mean to you?" Clint tosses the paper aside. "Just because he thinks fighting until he drops will make his father's death less painful doesn't mean it's true. Do you take every runaway that you find on your stoop and turn them into a solider?"

"Don't push your personal baggage onto this separate issue, Agent," Fury warns.

"That's not the point!"

"You had no where to go, you had potential, and you were willing. He's the same way," Fury protests. He stands tall.

"If he's the same way, Fury, then he needs help," Clint pleads, "I didn't deal with my issues without other people; you can't expect a kid to manage all by himself..."

Fury's lone eye glints with at a new solution. "I agree."

"What?" Hawkeye is weary of the other man's sudden change of heart.

"You must be punished for your insubordinate behavior today, Agent. In place of formal reprimands," Fury returns the psych report to Clint, "you will be in charge of solving Agent Harper's issue."

"I don't understand."

"You've got your self a protege, Barton. Have fun," Fury says as he gestures to the door, dismissing his subordinate.

Cling makes sure he has all his papers and, slowly, leaves. As far as punishments go, he's had worse.

* * *

><p>Tigereye, formally known as 'the kid', shows up at his Clint place the next night.<p>

"I can't believe you, Barton! My life is not your business. If you have a problem with me then say it to me directly," he yells while merely inches away from Clint's face.

Clint looks down to the box of things he's been digging through. He hands it off to Roy and makes his way into his office. Roy jangles the box of junk before setting it aside roughly.

"You can't just ignore me when I'm talking to you," Roy complains as he stalks after Clint. "Are you even listening at all?" He reaches the entry way of Clint's office and stops suddenly.

Piles of more boxes clutter the floor. Clint rummages through one with his back turned to Roy. "Yes, I'm listening."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Roy pokes a finger under the flaps of a box and glances inside, "What is all this junk?"

Clint shrugs. "Junk is junk. The problem is," Clint huffs as he lifts a heavy load, "this junk is all _my_ junk."

"What...is somebody moving in or something?" Roy asks.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"If you have somewhere better to go." Clint, instead of mulling over his things, finally meets the teen's eyes.

Roy wants to yell again. He wants to complain that he's not a kid in need of a comfy home. The redhead tries to utter the words but can't.

He thinks of his one room, minimalistic, ramshackle apartment. His eyes float around from the assorted pictures and nicknacks that scatter every room of Clint's apartment. It looks like someone actually lives here. He can't say the same for his own place.

"As long as it keeps you off my back...and I don't want any stupid curfew or anything. You're not my father."

Clint smiles. "Sure, whatever you say, Roy. Besides, I'm not old enough to be your father," his smile shifts into a smirk, "so think of me as a brother."

Roy scowls. Roy, even though he doesn't like that depiction of their relationship, lets Hawkeye fill out his school registration form claiming as such.

He moves in by the end of day. Somehow, as soon as he moves into his new space, he starts wishing he had more junk.

Junk seems to make a place seem like home. Roy turns to Clint as he unpacks the last box.

"Hey, Clint?"

"Yup."

"I'm going to keep some of your junk."

The blonde agrees. "What's mine is yours."

Clint doesn't mind; he's always wanted a little brother.

* * *

><p>Tigereye becomes Hawkeye's shadow. The redhead improves his archery to keep up with his new mentor. He doesn't talk about his past much and Hawkeye tries not to pry. The most Roy ever mentions is that he grew up on an Indian reservation. Clint already knows this from Roy's dossier, but pretends like he's happy with Roy's answer.<p>

Widow thinks its cute that Hawkeye has a sidekick.

"Hawkeye," she says in her sultry voice, "I thought I was your partner and here you go and replace me with a kid."

"He's not a kid," Hawkeye says automatically.

"I'm not a kid." Tigereye's words overlap with Hawkeye's as they speak at the same time.

Black Widow smiles demurely at their faux pas.

"You two are adorable," she tells them with a small laugh.

The kid stops speaking to her for an hour after that. Hawkeye sighs when he realizes he's going to have to patch things up between them.

"Tigereye, you're being juvenile," Hawkeye says.

"I'm not a kid."

"Then prove it and act like an adult for once."

Roy glares daggers at him but complies. Tigereye knows that the mission is top priority; the three cannot work on the mission together unless Roy ends his silent treatment.

* * *

><p>When Hawkeye is told to change partners randomly and isn't given a reason, he blames Black Widow. Clint knows that Tigereye has gotten on her nerves and changed their partnership dynamic. Still, Widow is his friend. He doesn't want to argue with her in public.<p>

Tigereye looks for Clint to speak up and demand they stay together, but he doesn't.

Roy is beyond frustrated. Clint's priorities seem to place his old partner before his new 'little brother'.

Roy stops coming home; he takes on missions that purposely keep him away. Eventually, he doesn't come home at all and doesn't bother to find an excuse.

The next time Hawkeye sees Roy, he's beat up. He runs through the report of the mission Tigereye was sent on and is amazed that they'd let a kid in on it.

Fury doesn't like the criticism. He tells Hawkeye to stick with Widow. "Black Widow is your real partner, Hawkeye. Your mission always comes first before any kid's hurt feelings," he insists before having Clint escorted from his office.

Hawkeye, to say the least, doesn't like what's going on.

"They're using him even more than before I tried to help him," he complains to Black Widow.

He wishes Roy was really his family so he could have some control over what Fury makes the kid do.

"You can't force him to be your brother," Natasha whispers as she squeezes his hand. She really wishes that she had treated the kid better.

* * *

><p>Hawkeye never sees Tigereye again. Instead, he meets 'just Roy' one day as he's taking all this belongings out of their place.<p>

Hawkeye tries to convince him to stay. Roy gives in for a month.

Then the misunderstanding with Black Widow happens. Hawkeye is labeled a double agent and runs.

Roy turns himself over. He can't stand beside his mentor now if he wants to stay inside. If he can't have a home, then he will have a mission. He will have a purpose.

* * *

><p>Fury refuses to trust Tigereye with any fieldwork.<p>

"You are a risk," he bellows.

Roy is desperate. "I'll do anything to show my worth."

"This isn't about how useful you are; it's about trust."

The teen runs his hands through his hair. "What? Do I have to plead fidelity like a medieval knight or something?"

Fury hands Roy a paper. The boy's eyes glaze over as he reads through the legal jargon.

"It would be a start," Fury proclaims.

Roy's will breaks as he thinks of his options: going back to his motel or returning home to Hawkeye's empty apartment.

As he signs the paper, he hands over his name and life. He hopes he's making the right decision.

Fury sends Tigereye only on suicide missions after Hawkeye's falling out with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tigereye throws his full weight into each one.

He picks his scabs and cleans his scars each night as he lives alone. He should have listened to the voice in his head, the one that sounded like his brother. He was being used. He made the wrong choice.

Roy wishes he was a better person so that he'd have the will to admit it.

He keeps fighting without knowing why.

* * *

><p>Tigereye is sent on his first high priority mission at last. Admittedly, Hawkeye being cleared of all charges is what changes his type of mission, but Roy ignores this fact.<p>

Roy doesn't know why he feels he needs to prove to S.H.I.E.L.D. that he is loyal to the mission first and everything and everyone else second, but he does. So he opens his file and reads the dossier. The Avengers are not authorized by S.H.I.E.L.D. as superhero teams are dangerous. That is the official government position.

Apparently, Harper must gain intelligence on a new team-up of two heroes: Knightwing and Yellowjacket.

These two heroes stay underground somehow. They never make appearances on the news and are never caught by a photographer. The vigilantes, unlike the others, just keep to themselves.

Knightwing wears a tech suit that looks like it is based on Stark tech while Yellowjacket has superpowers. He's fast and has enhanced healing.

Roy begrudgingly asked Hawkeye for help. He needed to know what Tony thought of this Knightwing.

"Tony has never heard of him until now. He's investigating that suit. Thanks for the tip off," Hawkeye had told Roy. He sighed. "I hope you come home."

So far Roy's only good lead on Knightwing and Yellowjacket is that they often protect from mutant hate crimes.

Tigereye heads to a mission house which is suspected to be frequented by mutants. S.H.I.E.L.D. has the area on alert for anti-mutant versus mutant fights breaking out. Roy spots the mission house easily. This building is easy to find, considering it is on fire.

Although smoke is everywhere, Tigereye makes out the form of an armored man.

As the figure approaches, Tigereye decides the man is too short and too thin. Knightwing is an armored teenager. The speedster is a teen too; he is all impulses and bad puns.

Roy knows now why he was assigned this mission instead of another deathwish.

It wasn't about trust, or skill, or anything. It was because Fury figured these kids would follow a kid quietly. Clint was right. After all these years, Roy Harper is just a tool to S.H.I.E.L.D. to be used as seen fit.

Tigereye enters the burning building and pulls off his comm. He crushes it under his foot. He decides he rather help these kids do what they are doing. He'd rather join their mission than continue his own.

Roy Harper the Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ends and Roy Harper the vigilante begins.

He pulls a green skinned girl from beneath a wooden board and runs out of the building. The girl awakens and asks where she is.

Blinking, she asks another question. "Who are you?" She looks to her green hands. "Who am I?"

"I'm Roy," he says slowly. "You don't remember anything?" When she nods briefly, he frowns.

Knightwing and Yellowjacket motion for them to join with the rest of the survivors. Yellowjacket gives Tigereye a thumbs up and runs off. He blows water around the fire and it dies down rapidly.

"Do you know this girl?" Knightwing asks Roy about the girl he's holding.

Roy looks at her flame red hair that matches his own. "Yes, I know her. This is Megan," he says. "She's my sister." He squeezes the green hands she still stares at. "We need somewhere new to crash, huh sis?"

Megan nods again since she has no idea what to replace Roy's story with.

Roy is there to catch her as she pass out.

* * *

><p><em>Next Chapter: Megan Blake, Teenage Runaway.<em>


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